Take-up mechanism for knitting-machines.



No. 668,568. Patented Feb. I9, |90I. F. WILCUMB.

TAKE-UP MEGHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

(Application led Aug. 7, 1900.) (No Model.)

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NTTED STATES PATENT Frici.

FRANK WILOOMB, OF NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA;

TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR KNlTTlNG-NIACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent o. 668,568, dated February19, 1901.

Application filed August 7, 1900. Serial No. 26,160. LNo model.)

T0 all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, FRANK WILooMB, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norristown, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Take-Up Mechanism for Knitting-Machines, of whichthe following is a specification.

It is one object of the invention to provide a take-up that will takefabric of varying thicknesses without materially aecting the strain ofthe fabric on the needles.

My object is, further, to provide a take-up machine for knitting or likemachines in which the revolution of the take-up roll will beautomatically controlled through the tension of the fabric. I aim toprovide a driving connection for the take-up roll, the power of whichwill vary automatically with variations in the tension of the fabric andwhich will be automatically adj usted to afford more or less powerindependent of any rotary movemeut of the take-up roller-that is to say,the adjustment will be effected without requiring any movement of thetake-up roll in order to allow said adjustment to be made.

My invention includes a take-up roller, a driving connection therefor,andV means controlled by the tension of the fabric for automaticallyadjusting said driving connection independent of any movement of thetake-upl roller resulting from said adjustment.

My invention includes also a driving device for the take-up rolls, thespeed of which device is variable to correspond to the work to be done,so that when the fabric is to be taken up rapidly the speed of the saiddevice is increased and when less fabric is to be drawn through therolls the speed of said driving device is decreased.

In the drawings, Figure l is an end vieW,.

partly in section, of the invention. Fig. 2 is a front view with partsin section. Fig. 3 is a view on the line A A of Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and Oneof the take-up rolls has fixed thereto, through a clutchdevice,hereinafterdescribed, a worm-wheel d, which meshes with a worm e,carried by a shaft f. This shaft has bearings in the standard and isadapted to have sliding movement through the worm and standard. Itcarries at its lower end a friction disk or cone k, adapted to bear on aring g, which is fixed to the stationary base-plate hof the machine.Said ring has an inclined or beveled face al of the same angle as thatof the cone or friction disk. As the take-up plate c rotates thefriction-cone bearing on the inclined face will be rotated and thismovement will be imparted to the take-up roll through the worm andworin-wheel. For this purpose the worm, while being loose on the shaftpartakes of the revolution of the same by means of pinsj on the lowerend of the worm engaging openings in a .block Z, attached to the shaftrigidly by a set-screw.

In order to maintain a substantially uniform tension on the fabricregardless of any variation in the quantity of fabric produced in agiven time, I employr a construction which willautomaticallyandinstantaneouslychangethe rotary speed of the take-uprolls. By this arrangement also I automatically increase the powerimparted to the rolls to overcome any abnormal resistance to theirrotation, as in the case of Welts passing through.

I control the pressure between the friction driving-surfaces of the coneand ring g, making this pressure greater when the tension of the fabricbetween the take-up rolls and the needles tends to slacken anddecreasing said pressure when the tension of the fabric tends to becomegreater. For this purpose the vertically-sliding shaftfis borne upon bya lever n, which is fixed to a rock-shaft o, journaled in bearingsformed in the standards b. The arm o of the lever n has aforked endembracing a plunger q, arranged to slide vertically in the barrel r ofone of the standards b and pressed upwardly bya spring s in said barrel.The rock-shaft o also has Xed thereto a frame t, which carries awhip-roller u, arranged with its 'periphery in the path of the fabric asthe same passes downwardly from the knitting devices to the take-uprollers. The tension of the spring s and the arrangement of the partsgenerally are such that undernorlnal condition the roller u will pressthe fabric slightly out of its direct path to the take-up rolls, asshown in Fig. l at t. It will now be seen that when the takeup rollsdraw down the fabric too rapidly the tension will increase and thefabric will tend to straighten out from the position shown in Figi. Thisaction will press the fabric harder against the roller u, and thepressure of the lever upon the shaftf being thus released the frictiondrivingsnrface of the cone will bear with less pressure on thedriving-ring g and the rotation of the rolls will be reduced. As soon,however, as the tension of the fabric is reduced to normal the spring swill press through the lever n and force the friction driving-surfacestogether sufficiently hard to drive the take-up rolls at the requiredspeed. It must be understood that as the friction driving-surfaces arealways in contact and the lever n always in contact with the spindle orshaftf there can be no actual motion of the spindle longitudinally andthe whiproll will also maintain one position. The degree of pressurebetween the contacting parts, however, will change according' to thechanged conditions in the tension of the fabric. The spring operatingagainst the lever being adjustable as to tension i t is possible toadjust the take-up so that the strain of the fabric and pressure of thespring will be exactly balanced, and the friction-disk will then rotateslowlyand revolve the take-np roll at exactly the speed required to takeup the fabric unless there should be some variation in the yarn or thecharacter of the knitting. Then this variation occurs, the pressurebetween the friction-su rfaces is increased ordecreased, according asthe whip-roll bears against the fabric with greater or less pressure.This insures a perfect working of the device under all conditions. Forinstance, should a welt or an extra thick piece of fabric arrive at thetake-up rolls too large to be carried through with the power thenimparted to the rolls the fabric would tend to slacken and the spring swould immediately press the driving-surfa-ces harder together totransmit more power, this action taking place entirely independent ofany effect on the worm during such adjustment. This is an advantage, forat this time the movement of the rolls is opposed by the welt. \Viththis driving mechanism it will be noticed also that the shaftfis drivenonly at the varying rates of speed required and not at a rale equal toor in excess of the highest rate desired. For instance, when the tensiontends to increase and less fabric is to be taken up the speed of theshaft f is reduced, and when the take-np rolls must be rotated at ahigher rate of speed the rotation of the shaft f is increased.

One of the take-up rolls is carried in adjustable bearings provided inarms w on a rock-shaft 0c, which bears in the standard b, said armshaving right-angular extensions y, pressed upon by springs z. Thesesprings f ceases are held in vertical openings in the standards andsurround rods l. They can be adjusted by the screw-threaded plugs 2, andthus one roller can be forced toward the other with a yieldingadjustable pressure.

The Worm-wheel is loose on the shaft of the take-up roll and isconnected therewith by a clutch comprising a series of teeth 3 on theworm adapted to be engaged by pawls 4, carried by a disk 5, arranged toslide longitudinally ot' the shaft and pressed to make the pawls engagethe teeth by a spring (i, bearing upon the disk and upon the rim 7. Thepawls pass through a rim 8, which is formed with a screw threaded sleeveil, which is screwed upon the reduced threaded portion 8 of the shaft.The disk lits against a shoulder f) of the shaft. By this means thetakeup roll can be disconnected from the worm and .rotated by hand, asdesired.

I employ the term whip-roll herein to apply to the roller shown or anyother form of device which may be used to bear on the fabric and beinfluenced by the tension thereof to control the driving connections.

The shaftf I have spoken of as having vertical movement; but I employthese terms for convenience of description, for, as before stated, noappreciable vertical movement of the shaft or whip-roller takes place,but these parts are simply subjected to more or less pressure, accordingto the tension of the fabric.

The arrangement of the springs z and the adjusting-screws verticallyavoids any objectionable laterally-projecting parts which might be inthe way as the parts rotate.

Where I have mentioned in the specication and claims that the shaft isadjustable through the worm it will be understood that this is done `forconvenience of description, no appreciable movement of the shaft takingplace, but the pressure exerted through said shaft being independent ofany pressure acting on the worm.

I claim* 1. In combination, the take-up rolls, the Worm-wheel and wormfor driving the same, the shaft adjustable through the said worm, anddriving means in connection with the shaft and adjustable therewith tovary the speed of the rolls, substantially as described.

2. In combination, the take-up rolls, gearf ing for driving the same, ashaft adjustable through one of the gear members, driving meansconnected with the shaft and arranged to vary the speed as the shaft isadjusted and means for adjusting the shaft according to variations inthe tension of the fabric, substantially as described.

3. In combination, the take-up rolls, the gearing, the shaft adjustablethrough one of the gear members, the friction-disk on the shaft, thefriction-ring for rotating the disk, means to communicate the motion ofthe shaft to the gear member through which it passes and means foradjusting the shaft from IOO IIO

the tension of the fabric, substantially as described.

4. In combination, the roll, the Worm-Wheel loose on the roll-shaft,means for driving the Worm-Wheel and the clutch between the Worm andshaft comprising the fixed rim and the spring-pressed paWl-carrierhaving a pawl passing through lthe rim and engaging the Worm-Wheel, saidpaWl-carrier comprising a disk encircling the shaft with a spring alsoencircling the shaft and pressing upon the disk, substantially asdescribed 5. In combination, the take-up rolls, the standards havingbearings for one roll, the arms 'w having right-angular extensions, therock-shaft having bearings in the standards and carrying the arms, thevertically-arranged springs in the standards pressing upon the arms andmeans for adjusting the springs, substantially as described.

6. In combination, the take -up rolls, a worm-Wheel on one of the rolls,a Worm engaging the Worm-Wheel and having its axis disposed vertically,a vertical shaft passing loosely through the Worm, friction drivingmeans on the lower end of the shaft arranged to impart more or lesspower according to the pressure upon the said shaft and means forexerting more or less pressure upon the shaft vertically according tothe tension of the web, substantially as described.

7. In combination, the takeup rolls, a worm-Wheel on one of the rolls, aWorm engaging the Worm Wheel, a shaft having a spline connection withthe Worm, friction driving means on the shaft arranged to impart more orless power according to the pressure upon the said shaft and means forexerting more or less pressure upon the shaft vaccording to the tensionof the web, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my` signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK WILCOMB.

Witnesses:

F. B. WILDMAN, OLGA M. RAKERD.

